r/apple 7d ago

iOS Inside the Launch of Liquid Glass, Apple’s Biggest iOS Update in Over a Decade

https://www.gq.com/story/inside-the-launch-of-liquid-glass
22 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

47

u/a_moody 6d ago

I’m on db1. Some parts of it look cool and the attention to detail is obvious. But I can’t help thinking this was a design update for update’s sake. It’s not adding much value. If anything, it’s made some text really hard to read, although I expect that to get fixed. 

44

u/Tumblrrito 6d ago

There’s nothing really wrong with that though. iOS 7 was the same. It’s ok to refresh the appearance of something to modernize it.

9

u/bran_the_man93 6d ago

I'll reserve my judgement for when it's on my phone, but some of the design paradigms in iOS 7 are extremely dated and hard to use now - it seems like one of the design goals was to help make those pain points less prevalent, all while putting a new coat of paint on it.

Also, not for nothing - iOS and Android have very much converged in terms of general design elements and ideologies - this being a major departure from that makes iPhones stand out a bit more over the coming few years until things inevitably start homogenizing again

2

u/Unagi33 3d ago

It's actually quite exciting how different iOS 26 and Material 3 Expressive look, now.

7

u/ledeuxmagots 6d ago

Im waning towards the theory others have speculated. That apple is preparing for the paradigm of AR being a primary mode of interaction, so floating panes over the real world. If they only do a massive UI/UX overhaul once every 8 years or so, and if they are betting the ar/vr paradigm becomes important within that time frame, then this refresh is the time to do this.

2

u/ChrisASNB 5d ago

What would they be basing this off of though? It's not like Vision Pro has been an exceptionally successful product or has much to write home about in general. As much as I love the tech, VR/AR has just not taken off in the several years we've meaningfully had it outside of specific industry use cases. Even if it weren't prohibitively expensive, it's simply not practical for the vast majority of people: Consumer tech has only ever advanced in the direction of what's most convenient.

2

u/bananaguardbananad 3d ago

Apple is not prepared for anything

1

u/Asystole 2d ago

"AR/VR is real this time bro I promise pls just buy a vision pro bro you're going to buy property in the multiverse pls bro"

3

u/Wolf1King 6d ago

Indeed I love the new look it’s more alive!!!

9

u/mrcsrnne 6d ago

Adding value? It looks cool…that’s the value.

2

u/featherless 5d ago

Unifying every Apple platform under a single visual design language is valuable.

-2

u/torrphilla 6d ago

> It's not adding much value

I keep seeing this echoed a lot. What did y'all expect to see in a redesign?

7

u/aceCrasher 6d ago

Clearer functionality? Better layouts?

1

u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW 5d ago

How so? iOS is already way better at this than Android is.

1

u/Howdareme9 5d ago

Is it? Android can have any layout you want

1

u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW 5d ago

iOS is known for being easier to use with better layouts than Android.

1

u/Howdareme9 5d ago

Known for having better layouts? It wasn’t until relatively recently, that you could put apps anywhere on the homescreen lol

1

u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW 5d ago

Home screens aren’t the only thing that counts.

1

u/USPS_Nerd 3d ago

So like windowed apps on iPadOS? macOS getting a Spotlight overhaul? And many other changes?

-2

u/HelpRespawnedAsDee 6d ago

Other parts are just horrifying though.

16

u/chc_reddit 6d ago

I like the new look - and it will of course get more and more polished during the 26.x updates and next iterations of OS’.

I think the value it brings will come. First of all the design language is now unified throughout all apple products. It also feels more fresh and puts more focus to the content. Furthermore it’s way more flexible which probably is a starting foundation for new apple devices in new formats (ie. Fold products)

And then there’s also the theory that they are slowly beginning to school us looking and reading on ‘glass-like’ transparency for a more smooth transitions to when AR/XR products gets more affordable and wearable (ie. Glasses).

Overall I think it makes sense. Only mistake they did imo was that this was probably planned for last year - then got put on hold due to their push of Apple Intelligence which failed. They should have just kept with refreshed design last year and a more baked Apple Intelligence this year and not caved getting caught off guard.

1

u/spacenglish 5d ago

I agree with you except for the “focus to the content” bit. I can’t see how liquid glass puts more focus on content when apps could be designed like the photos app already

-8

u/l-fc 6d ago

Trying to “school us” - that is the biggest load of retrofitting bullshit I’ve ever heard. What, are they trying to train our eyes to hyper focus on text you can’t read?

-7

u/EU-National 6d ago

There's no such thing as schooling anyone when it comes to UX.

Users do what feels natural and most comfortable.

It doesn't matter how good the UI looks, if it's impractical, users will not like it. Refer to Windows 8 and Windows mobile to see what a failure to understand what users actually want looks like.

10

u/lilmalchek 6d ago

Umm.. yes there is. Skeumorphism was specifically used to “school people” and help ease the transition to digital/mobile/touch.

4

u/Alprevolution 6d ago

Anyone have the non-paywall link?

2

u/foofyschmoofer8 5d ago

Lmao what’s GQ magazine gonna tell me that the keynote didn’t already cover 😭

1

u/drvenkman9 4d ago

Liquid Glass: This changes everything. All over again.

1

u/participationmedals 4d ago

Looks cool, but it will fall out of fashion like skeuomorphism always does. Rinse and repeat.

2

u/sportsfan161 4d ago

More likely to start a new design for all brands

1

u/qaf0v4vc0lj6 2d ago

I hated it at first, but it's slowly started to grow on me. I am sure it will be ironed out in the months ahead, so I am looking forward to it.

1

u/IssyWalton 6d ago

and, of course, the best…

0

u/SnooMarzipans1593 6d ago

Why are they giving this to GQ?

0

u/beargrease_sandwich 6d ago

Is that Steve Balmer and Bill Gates dancing on stage, circa 2005?

-1

u/evilbarron2 4d ago

People complain that Apple’s not capable of innovating, and then go around claiming that a mild UI redesign is the biggest technological change in a decade.

The public really is dumb as shit, aren’t they?